Long grass is healthy grass

Yes, it’s time to give the lawn its first trim of the year, but don’t go too short too soon, says Monty Don

IF you’ve been going stir crazy waiting for the late arrival of Spring after the harsh winter then one of the first things you’ll be wanting to do when you get out in the garden is crank up the mower. Of all mechanical noises, it is the one that I’m most fond of.

Nothing quite matches the grassy fragrance of that first cut, and it is astonishing how even the lightest trim seems to sharpen the entire garden and set it up for spring.

I know that some people (almost always men, it seems) are extremely concerned that their lawns should be as near to perfect as possible, but this has always struck me as a matter of supreme unimportance.

All I am after is an even-ish area of green dominated by grass (although the lawn around topiary yews in my front garden is becoming almost entirely moss and is lovely).

The odd clump of daisies, clover or dandelions does not trouble me too much.

But each to their own, and I think we can all agree that a lawn is intended to be a mown area of grass.

The nature of grass is that it tends to dominate all other plants if it is regularly cut, so the fact that lawns are, by definition, closely shorn, means that they are usually more or less grassy. So far so good.

However, it is important not to cut too short and certainly not too short too soon. At this time of year the grass should be allowed to grow at least an inch and it will be much healthier if rather longer than that. Mowing robs each grass plant of the opportunity to photosynthesise, let alone set seed, so gradually weakens all but the toughest of grasses.

We all want grass to be dominant in our lawns but it is very rare for there only to be one type of grass.

Let your lawn grow uncut and you will see that the different types of grass can vary a great deal when mature.

A hard-wearing lawn suitable for family rough and tumble and more casual care will be based upon ryegrass (along with some Timothy, Chewing’s fescue and meadow grass) but the perfect sward you find on bowling or golf greens will be mainly Chewing’s fescue.

This creates a finer, more velvety surface and can tolerate being cut very short indeed - but is not at all hard-wearing.

Now is an excellent time to sow or turf lawns, but careful choice of the seed or turf mix will help hugely in the years of maintenance to come. The other essential factor is to dig and prepare the ground as well as possible.

Lawns thrive on deep, well-drained soil, and adding as much sand or grit as you can manage before sowing or turfing will do more good than anything else. Also rake it very carefully, as turf tends to accentuate any dips or hollows rather than hide them.

Once established, the secret of a good lawn is lots of sun and moisture, coupled with good drainage.

Provide those three things and the grass is guaranteed to thrive – and where grass thrives almost all else will play second fiddle, including moss, daisies, thistles, buttercups and dandelions. Sunlight can be increased by cutting back shading branches, and most of the time there is enough rain to deal with the moisture (although the perfect lawn will need a good soak at least once a week, almost all lawns recover from seemingly disastrous drought).

Grass is very tough. However, drainage is very important and the hardest aspect to maintain because the very act of walking on a lawn - let alone riding bikes or playing football or whatever – will compact the soil.

This is why it is a good idea to aerate the turf each autumn and spring and to brush in added sand if the soil is heavy.